Norm Groot: Without context, reports shallow

We live in a world of contexts, one where any individual cannot have a full grasp on each and every thing that happens in our daily lives. While I may be intimately involved in water issues facing agriculture, I don't pretend to be an expert on issues facing the homeless, for example.

Farming and ranching is a complicated business. It takes lots of knowledge to understand how to raise crops or animals, as well as utilizing natural resources in a manner that conserves for years to come.

With technology developing faster and faster, those of us in agriculture are in a constant state of learning, adapting and seeking.

Here's where the expertise of farm knowledge diverges from public perception: Most consumers don't realize how or where their food is produced, and have no idea of the extraordinary risks farmers and ranchers take to bring their products to market.

In our fast-paced society we seem to have an advocacy group for nearly everything. Many proclaim to be the experts in their area of concern without having ever spent a true hard day working in the area they pretend to know so much about. This is increasingly becoming the case where advocacy groups are taking on the agriculture community over their practices and farm operations.

Many don't like how our meat is processed. Others advocate for everything natural and uncultured. And there are the groups that think anything large-scale has to be bad simply because it's big. And increasingly, they use data as a weapon.

A new example of degrading agriculture is once again using questionable data compilation. A report titled "Agricultural Pesticide Use Near Public Schools in California" intends to cause a panic about food production in proximity to our educational facilities. The report makes no claim that children are being adversely affected by farming activities, but only implies that, by proximity, the use of agricultural chemicals near schools is automatically a bad thing.

The perception this report infers is that use equals risk, which is falsely implied by not providing proper context of the regulatory process that exists to protect against exposure incidents.

Let's review the facts: California has the strictest laws pertaining to the use of agricultural chemicals of any state in our nation. County ag commissioners have authority to impose additional restrictions and site-specific requirements when more strict safety perimeters are needed, such as areas around schools. Strict regulations on how chemicals are stored, mixed, and used are well beyond what many other countries require who regularly send their food products to our supermarkets. Newer chemicals used in agriculture are softer on the environment than older, harsher chemicals of 20 years ago. California farmers reside on their farms and educate their children in schools adjacent to their farm operations, so they have incentive to employ best management practices throughout their operations.

By jumping to a conclusion that agricultural practices are automatically suspect because of a new report, which provides no context, gives substance to growing hysteria about nearly everything we do to improve our quality of life. Consumers expect their fresh fruits and vegetables to be free of diseases and pests, and more importantly, look healthy and perfect. Farming is not like a factory where one item is produced and looks the same as the next; numerous variables threaten each and every crop produced. Our environment is full of insects, diseases and bad weather - these are all qualifiers for a successful crop production cycle.

Farmers need agricultural chemicals to protect their investments, whether it is soil fumigants or pesticides to ward off insects. Without these tools, our supermarket shelves would lose many of the choices we now enjoy, and the remaining choices would be far more expensive. American consumers have come to expect fully stocked shelves with multiple choices when it comes to their fruits and vegetables. And never mind that we have seasons, as those are erased by imports.

So let's all step back and examine who has the knowledge to get the job done safely when it comes to growing our food products - it's the farmer or rancher who has the experience and does this work each and every day. Let's trust the experts, not those who say they know better because of data analysis without context.

Our food supply is too important to let hysteria overtake the discussion on what's good and bad. Let's base it on experience, and good science. Understanding the context of the facts is just as important as reporting them.

Norm Groot is executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau.

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Norm Groot: Without context, reports shallow

We live in a world of contexts, one where any individual cannot have a full grasp on each and every thing that happens in our daily lives.